Welfare and Housing Support Senior Adviser

Human Resources & Development - Form 35 Version 15- Issued October 2022 JOB DESCRIPTION AND PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT ▪ Job Title: Welfare and Housing Support Senior Adviser ▪ Post Number: P11878 ▪ Grade: Band 9 SCP - 23 to 25 ▪ Directorate: Homes & Communities, Place Directorate Where your role fits at Shropshire Council As Shropshire Council we are rightly proud of our achievements and we have proven to be a resilient local authority in our response to the many challenges we overcome, particularly over recent years. We will be continuing this momentum with ambition and a focus on delivering our four key priorities outlined within the Shropshire Plan: Healthy People, Healthy Environment, Health Economy and Healthy Organisation. We are committed to achieving this by aligning everything we do to our vision 'Shropshire - living the best life'; to tell everyone that Shropshire Council is a great place to be. We will enable a skilled, happy, healthy, diverse, inclusive, empowered, and proud workforce that influences and leads change, addressing any inequalities. As a member of the Welfare Support Team, and the wider Housing Services Team, you will support the achievement of these key priorities, making a real difference to the lives of people in Shropshire. Overview of your role • To be responsible for the day-to-day supervision and operation of the Welfare Support Team, which includes administration of Local Welfare Provision funding, including the Local Support and Prevention Fund, within set financial limits. • To take calls for Local Welfare Provision, administer applications and respond to queries. • Duties of the team you will be supervising may also include other advice or provision of financial support from Homelessness funds to households that are homeless or at risk of homelessness. • To be responsible for the daily management and supervision of the team, their coaching and mentoring in the delivery of often difficult discretionary decisions, overseeing the quality control of decision-making, allocation of work and financial reconciliation and statistical data provision. • To identify training needs for internal staff and for external partners. • To closely liaise with the Homelessness Prevention Co-ordinator to ensure an efficient and effective service is provided at all times. • To act as first point of contact for housing options and HomePoint calls, providing initial advice to callers and to emails, with a focus on prevention of homelessness and encouraging people to seek assistance to be self-sufficient whenever possible. • To work with colleagues to pass on relevant information to the Housing Options Team to progress homelessness applications. • To support staff in their dealings with customers, particularly around contentious or intervening where necessary and handling difficult disputed decisions, conversations with customers in a positive way. • To deal with customer complaints and review requests on applications in accordance with relevant policies. • To provide informed information and advice to customers, suggesting alternative solutions and signposting customers to specialist advice and support services. • To establish and build good relations with other statutory bodies and third sector organisations. • To ensure that appropriate computer systems are kept up to date and that opportunities to develop and maintain data collection are identified and taken. • To liaise with other council departments and external agencies as appropriate in order to ensure that fair decisions are made and to ensure that customers are signposted to appropriate support as required. • To manage the achievement of individual and team performance targets and personal development objectives as agreed through the Personal Development Process. • To conduct first tier review of decisions on applications for funding. • To approve payments and awards on applications. • To assist in any other duties that may be reasonably expected of the post-holder. Who will your manager be and what will you be responsible for? You will be: ▪ reporting to the Homelessness Prevention Co-ordinator, who in turn is responsible for your health and safety, training and development. ▪ expected to contribute to a range of projects and build relations with both internal and external partners in order achieve specified outcomes but will not have direct authority over those involved. What will you be doing? To manage, supervise, motivate and train the team to ensure an effective service is delivered, as well as address poor behaviours and/or poor performance, and to support them in their decision making as required. To assist the Homelessness Prevention Co-ordinator in recruitment. To complete one to one meetings with staff and Personal Development Plans for each team member. To assist the Homelessness Prevention Co-ordinator to continuously monitor and evaluate service delivery against targets to ensure that resources are used appropriately and to maximum effect, including reconciliation of budgetary spend and to deputise for, and represent the Homelessness Prevention Co-ordinator at meetings, seminars, team briefings and other relevant events. To provide statistical data to the Homelessness Prevention Co-ordinator, in order to inform service delivery., To contribute to the development of policies and procedures around the delivery of Local Welfare Provision, and the prevention of homelessness, taking good practice and learning from others to establish a set of actions that staff can use to support customers and prevent homelessness. To support and deliver the teams service delivery plan. Support the Homelessness Prevention Co-ordinator, to set out objectives, monitor performance, and provide guidance and support as required. Ensure adherence to service objectives, especially regarding legislation, defined policies and procedures, and health and safety. Promote general well-being regarding health, mental health and financial security, by signposting to information online and other services. Promote equality and diversity. Assist with the management of appropriate budgets, monitoring to ensure financial targets are met and financial systems are within the requirements of the Council's standing orders. To work with the Homelessness Prevention Co-ordinator to establish and maintain an effective monitoring system and ensure that the service meets service requirements. Assist the Homelessness Prevention Co-ordinator in the accurate completion of statistical and other returns, including DWP returns. Work with colleagues to ensure the team functions successfully in support of the Councils corporate and service objectives. . To represent the team at meetings with other departments and outside agencies where appropriate. To deal with relevant correspondence, enquiries and complaints. To deal with enquiries from Councillors and MPs. To deal with Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests as required. To use computer systems to input, extract and process information. Review and develop administrative and IT policies and procedures on existing and new systems, contributing to changes necessary to meet the needs of the service. To undertake quality assurance work on the work of the team, to ensure compliance with legal requirements and agreed processes. The above duties are an illustrative outline and are not an exhaustive list. You will be expected to become involved in a range of work to enable the service to respond effectively to the changing requirements of the Council and changes affecting the workforce. What we expect of you You will: ▪ Adopt a customer focused approach when delivering your service, ensuring engagement with service users and maintenance of an appropriate personal profile, ▪ Act as an advocate for your service and work collaboratively with colleagues across the whole Council to meet the needs of the people of Shropshire, ▪ Meet individual, service and personal development targets agreed through the Personal Development Review Process, learn from experience and are committed to continuous improvement individually and as an employee of the Council, ▪ Work with colleagues to meet your team's key performance indicators, support a culture of team working and ensure the team functions successfully in support of the Council's corporate and service objectives. ▪ Meet the behaviours and competencies adopted by the Council in the way in which they achieve their objectives and carry out their work. What are your conditions of Service The conditions of service are those laid down by Shropshire Council, which have been adopted and amended as necessary from those laid down by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. You will be based at Council officers currently either at Shropshire Council Head Office, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury or the Lantern, Meadow Farm Drive, Shrewsbury. The location of the team may change but is likely to remain based in Shrewsbury. The role is a hybrid one the expectation is that the role will include home working and visits to other sites. Your post is subject to the following: ▪ The post is permanent for 37 hours per week. ▪ Contractual office hours are 7am-7pm Monday-Friday and 8am-1pm Saturday with a minimum lunch break of 30 minutes. Normal office hours worked by the team are 8.45am - 5pm Monday - Friday with a minimum lunch break of 30 minutes. The 37 hours must be ...